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Las year I went to see Kickass with a friend and I didn’t know what to expect, as I’m not a hardcore comic based movies, but to my surprise I enjoyed it very much, as did many people on Rotten Tomatoes.

But, what made the movie supercool is that there was a little girl who was awesome! Played by Chloë Grace Moretz, she was very entertaining to watch, kicking butts left and right. The film was refreshing and fun, and Chloe added a nice layer to the film.

This year’s Kickass movies is Hanna, which I saw this past weekend and throughly enjoyed as well. I knew I wanted to see it when I first saw the preview for it and because I like the cast that includes: Saoirse Ronan, who I first saw in Atonement and was very impressed by her performance, and the great Cate Blanchett of course. Hanna reminded me of what going to the movies was all about, as it had all the winning ingredients: beautiful cinematography and jaw-droping vistas, excellent cast, strong directing, interesting and exhilarating story, full of action and suspense, and simply perfect music by The Chemical Brothers, which added a nice ambiance to the experience. The movie was not perfect, as it was a bit slow at the beginning while setting up, but that happens with many movies. But all in all, I give the film a 4 out of 5 stars and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Interestingly enough Hanna also had a very similar rating to Kickass on Rotten Tomatoes, with users having a higher liking on them than critics.

And one last point to note is that both films did very well at the box office during opening weekend, with many fans interested in a similar experience, so the audience for these type of films is out there. Hanna played in over 2,500 screens in North American Theaters, collecting a relatively impressive $12.4 million and taking the number 2 spot under the Disney film Hop. Hanna beat the other new releases for last week, which is impressive in itself. Arthur and Your Highness were playing at more theaters and had a wider appeal because of their budgets, cast and directors.

Hanna was brought to us by Focus Features, who usually focus on smaller artsier films; except for this year with the releases of The Eagle and now Hanna. Nevertheless, both of their films still managed to keep an independent film flavor and quality to them, which I like. Hanna was a film that was carried by a little girl, who seems to be getting better and better as an actress as she gets older, and like Chloe, Saoirse is paving the way for many other little girls to rule the world in the silver screen!

It’s the time of the year again to wrap-up the year with the best in film; thus, it’s my turn to announce my choices for the best in 2010. The past year was by a large margin a much better year for movies and performances, just when I was about ready to throw in the towel! It was the first year in a while that I saw an increase in numbers of films seen, with almost over 100.

This was also a very good year for actors and independent films, so good that most of my choices are either independent and foreign, and both supporting categories have six nominees each–they were that good! Not to mention Javier Bardem’s formidably hunting performance. Plus two special categories: Best Musical Score and Rolling Credits nominees and winners.

OK, without further ado, here is the list of nominees and winners for the 2010 Rammy Awards–drum roll please:-):

Best Picture Biutiful *
Black Swan
The Ghost Writer
Mesrine: Public Enemy No 1
The Town

Best Actor
Ben Affleck for The TownJavier Bardem for Biutiful * (tie)Vincent Cassel for Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 * (tie)
Colin Firth for The King’s Speech
James Franco for 127 Hours

Best Actress
Maricel Alvarez for BiutifulAnnette Bening for The Kid’s Are All Right *
Katie Jarvis for Fish Tank
Natalie Portman for Black Swan
Tilda Swinton for I Am Love
Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale for The Fighter
John Hawkes for Winter’s BoneJeremy Renner for The Town *
Geoffrey Rush for The King’s Speech
Dylan Riley Snyder for Life During Wartime

The Recent Golden Globe nominations are a true statement of how this has become more of a popularity contest than a true award show. I was thinking of writing an article about this the other day and just came across an excellent piece by Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times, covering this very same topic. She covers so many of the big omissions the Hollywood Foreign Press failed to include in this year’s list of nominees, as in the case of Olivier Assayas’ Carlos, South Korea’s Mother, Tilda Swinton’s I Am Love, among many other. What it is interesting is to note is that it’s the same Hollywood Foreign Press who is snubbing many of these great international/foreign films, that one would think would be automatic shoe-ins.

One of this foreign films that I enjoyed so much this year was Biutiful, a film starring Javier Bardem and directed by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu. Javier Bardem–the same way Hye-Ja Kim from Mother and Tilda Swinton in I Am Love–was profoundly affecting in his role as a dying father and Inarritu’s directing merely profound, work that most certainly deserves some sort of recognition. There are so many other films that I can think of that were also excluded, such as: True Grit, Please Give, Nora’s Will, Fish Tank, Barney’s Version, The Town and the list can go on. But, instead the same eighty plus Foreign Press members found it necessary to recognize a film like The Tourist and their leading actors for their performances–Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp? This is exactly when you know that there is something REALLY wrong with this picture, it’s just a joke! Shame on you Hollywood Foreign Press!!!

These aforementioned films deserve to be seen and it’s a shame the their distribution and studios’ marketing haven’t really done them well by making sure voters see and vote for them. Let’s hope that come Oscar time, the academy members won’t make the same mistake and do justice to good films and good work from actors that truly invest themselves into their characters and recognize them. For those people like me and Betsy from the LA Times, keep seeing and supporting these quality films and spread the word about them among your friends. Often times, these are small independent/foreign films that need be discovered by more people and the only way for that to happen, sometimes is through good word of mouth. Let’s spread the word folks!

Read more about the common ground I share with Betsy on her article from the LA Times below…

Critic’s Notebook: Where the Golden Globe nominations went wrong. Johnny Depp with two nominations, Tilda Swinton with none, ‘True Grit’ shut out? An on-looker could go on — and does.

By Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times Film Critic
December 15, 2010

That was quite a performance by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. on Tuesday morning — it had sort of an Alice in Wonderland quality about it, though maybe “quality” isn’t exactly the right word.

Johnny Depp, who is having an off year at best, gets two nominations? Seriously? Angelina Jolie picks up one for that laugh riot “The Tourist”? Meanwhile Tilda Swinton, incomparable in “I Am Love,” Kim Hye-ja stunning in “Mother,” Hailee Steinfeld remarkable in “True Grit” are nowhere to be found. For that matter “True Grit” gets nada, and Roman Polanski’s exceptionally smart “The Ghost Writer” also comes up empty.

If this is Wonderland, even Alice wouldn’t want to live here any more.

The Globe nominations have often been little more than a popularity contest among those who throw the best parties, but with its 2011 nominations, the HFPA has reached a new low. (Yet no “Get Low’s” Robert Duvall.)

Here’s an idea: Recognize an actual comedy in the comedy-musical category. How about Nicole Holofcener’s wonderfully dark “Please Give” with Catherine Keener, or “Cyrus” with John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill? Even “The Ghost Writer” had a lot of great irony attached to Ewan McGregor’s Ghost, and irony is still funny, right?

And while we’re getting animated here, if the rules can be stretched so thinly as to qualify “Tourist” as a comedy, and Depp’s performance therein as a funny ha-ha one (versus a funny-weird one) — why not include Tom Hanks or Tim Allen? As Woody and Buzz Lightyear in “Toy Story 3,” both were definitely funnier than several of the actors who made it in.

Meanwhile, in the darker recesses of the Globes’ rabbit hole, why not Mia Wasikowska if we’re giving a shout-out to Depp in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”? Why wasn’t Aaron Eckhart’s searing pain of “Rabbit Hole” enough to make the supporting actor cut?

Another confusion, “Inception” walks off with nominations for best picture, best director and best screenplay, but apparently all that greatness happened without the help of actors. Nothing for Leonardo DiCaprio or Marion Cotillard. Were they asleep? (And by “they,” I mean the HFPA).

The 80 plus one (this is a plus-one town, you know) took notice of Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in “The Kids Are All Right” but missed Mark Ruffalo’s seductive charm, and went on to completely overlook Dustin Hoffman, excellent opposite Paul Giamatti in “Barney’s Version,” to make room for Michael Douglas in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” Huh?

Director Olivier Assayas’ exceptional “Carlos,” carried to great heights on the broad shoulders of actor Édgar Ramírez, premiered at the Cannes FILM Festival, has made many Top 10 FILM lists, yet the HFPA excludes it from the foreign film category, instead it’s relegated to TV for its “pay the bills” run there. Really?

I tell you, crimes, serious crimes, have been committed. There are more, too many to mention. I’m with the Queen of Hearts on this one: “Off with their heads.”

The Film Award Season has officially began with the nominations announcement of the 20th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards , ceremony that will take place on Monday, November 29th at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, where winners will be announced.

Indie film “Winter Bones”, “The Kids Are All Right” and Lena Dunham’s “Tiny Furniture” led the nominations with each garnering two total. “Bone” took three nominations, including best feature, best ensemble performance (for Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Dale Dickey, Lauren Sweetser, Garret Dillahunt, and Kevin Breznahan), and best breakthrough performance (Lawrence). In the best feature category, the film was joined by Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine,” Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids Are All Right,” and Matt Reeves’ “Let Me In.”

The big snubs were Annette Bening for “Kids” and Portman for “Swan”, both of which are said to be front runners for the Academy Awards.

The 2010 nominees for the 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards are:

Pasadena is one of those cities that has it all, particularly when it comes to entertainment, it has among the best movie theaters in all of Los Angeles. It boasts boutique movie houses that show mainstream films, as well as specialized ones. It also has two art houses that show rare films that once could only be seen in the west end of town in the old days. The Laemmle Theater Group, perhaps the oldest and only surviving family-run cinema house in Los Angeles, is one of those cinema halls that has been in Pasadena for the longest time and where rare independent and foreign films are exhibited. So, while in a night out in the town, why not check out a film at one of these cinemas?

Joaquin Phoenix’s “I’m Still Here” Reality Show Stunt

I’m Still Here is one of the most recent films that released exclusively in selected theaters nationwide in early September, including the Laemmle Theaters. The film is a mockumentary directed by Casey Affleck–Ben Affleck’s little brother. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix–Casey’s brother-in-law and his best friend–and follows the life of Phoenix, from the moment he announced retiring from show business after being of an acting ensemble benefit play in the Bay area, to the actors pursuit to becoming a hip hop artist. The film is a reality show that follows him during that very moment in 2008 to the current year.

The actor decision to leave Hollywood shocked everyone and many didn’t believe it, as the whole thing looked like a hoax. A hoax indeed was as it turns out. The fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The actor was so entrenched into his character that he looked like a cavemen junkie, as throughout the film and publicly humiliated on the David Letterman show as we all remember. During the show, Phoenix seemed to be in another planet altogether; giving shorts incoherent answers, not remember anything about the film he was promoting–Two Lovers–nor the name of actors he share the screen with, and of course chewing gun and taking it out of his mouth and sticking it under Letterman’s desk. How are we to sympathize with this guy?

The film goes on tediously showing Phoenix at his lowest: doing drugs, having sex with prostitutes, getting into a fight in a club in Miami, falling from stage in Las Vegas, witnessing Antony Langdon–Spacehog guitarist and musician–defecate on his face while asleep as a result of a feud between them that loses Joaquin’s trust. The scene where he finally meets rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs in his studio, he was able to be there on time for their meeting and bring his demo CD for “Diddy” to listen and at after listening to the third and last song Phoenix says: “So when do we record?” Then “Diddy” looks a him with a look of pity and tells him: “The first two songs were good, I liked them, but the last one brought it downhill…you can’t record with me, not under my name”. This scene was one of those few moments in the film where one feels for the guy.

The film is only one hour and six minutes, but it dragged on forever, and it followed the typical hollywood formula: it ended at the same place where it began. One is suppose to sympathize with the guy and his trials and tribulations, but the film does very little to do that. Instead we are reminded that Joaquin is ‘still here’, as the title says: “I Am Still Here”. He duped us all.

For everyone’s amusement, here are a couple of images of Joaquin’s appearances at the Dave Letterman show before and after the stunt…it really makes one vomit at the snobbery of calling a reality stunt ART!

If really bored and have nothing else to do than going to a movie, be sure to read up on this film before being stuck in a theater watching what happened to the once promising Joaquin Phoenix; instead, check out the theater marquee for other film options and save the trouble. The film gets one star out of four, and that’s being quite generous!

Luckily the Laemmle Playhouse is a multiplex cinema that can offer movie lovers many other good options.

This movie is more about the local cinema treasures we have in Pasadena, more than about this film that just happened to be playing at the given date and time. For more information on what’s playing at Pasadena Laemmle Playhouse theaters go to the Laemmle.

So far this year, it has become the year I have seen the least number of films since I started going to the movies—age 14. Nevertheless, I don’t give up completely, as there are those little movies that from time to time pop-up, as it’s the case of the following films: The Kids Are All Right, The Disappearance of Alice Creed and Life During Wartime. Each of these films have released over the last several weeks, but even those I am being a bit cautious about seeing. I have heard great things about all three of them and Todd Solondz is the director of Life During Wartime, whose films I enjoy very much.

So, I went to the local theater to check out one of these films to end my curiosity, and I got tickets for Lisa Cholodenko’s new film “The Kids Are Alright“. Not to be confused with the 1979 musical documentary by The Who, also called: The Kids Are Allright or their single by the same name. Interestingly enough I don’t recall noticing this song being played during or after the film, which would have been perfect. I did hear a couple of David Bowie songs however, which I enjoyed very much.

To my delight I ended up liking the film very much! The film was poignant and felt very personal to the director, as Lisa herself had gone through something very similar herself, as she became pregnant in 2006 by the way of an anonymous sperm donor.

The film officially released to the general public following the LA Film Festival on July 31st, where it premiered locally. The story centers around a lesbian couple, Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening), who each give birth to a girl and a boy respectively using the same anonymous sperm, donated by Paul (Mark Ruffalo), as we find out in the film.

Nic and Jules are in committed relationship until Paul comes back into the picture via the kids (Joni and Laser) desire to find out who their biological father was. Their relationship is put to test indeed, as Jules—who is very insecure and dependent on Nic—realizes that something is missing in her life and that she’s bored, so she decides to just let go. Nic on the other hand is a doctor who believes in rules and controlling the family, the breadwinner in the house. Nic’s “exhaustingly controlling” behavior as Joni calls it becomes overbearing and begins pushing everyone away from her. Jules’ stay-at-home mom life changes as she decides to begin her own landscape design business to start being more independent from Nic, and follow a new passion, as her children are all grown-up. Joni is turning 18 and will be leaving for college and her little brother Laser isn’t so little anymore, as he is finishing high school soon, and will follow her shortly after.

Although Nic and Jules don’t want Paul to come into the picture, they are influenced by the kids to eventually all meet and make friends. Little does Nic know of how much trouble this would really bring to her life? Paul, a late 30s co-op farmer and restaurant owner comes into the picture, and the kids and Jules become very fond of him. Nic and Jules’ relationship come to a to a point where it is fully compromised and they realize how much pain is causing one to the other once everything comes to light. The climactic scene at the dinner table just when Nic was just beginning to feel comfortable with Paul is masterful.

Cholodenko’s subtlety is stirring, as one expects an all-out war at the dinner table, Nic just sits there in slow motion and just watches. What the director is able to do here with this script is pure magic. Her story is very compelling and the actors beautifully tell the story to the audience in a very organic way. Annette Bening’s performance is a knockout! She becomes Joni very convincingly, and mark my words; if there is any justice in Hollywood this performance should at least guarantee her a place on the Best Actress Academy Awards short list. Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo were also very strong and delivered very solid performances. And the kids were better than all right; they were perfectly casted, as at one moment—at the beginning of the film—they made the entire family feel like the perfect family.

The film is without doubt one of the few best films I’ve seen this year and highly recommended to anyone. The film was released to universal acclaim since it premiered on January 25, 2010 at the Sundance Film Festival and at the 60th Berlinale festival, where the film was awarded with a Teddy award. The nation’s top critics rate the film 96 out of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes, which says a lot about the film. I rated 90% on my Icine book and highly recommend it to anyone to go see it!

For those film lovers in the Pasadena area searching for something different with a bit more action and substance then big Hollywood summer blockbusters, there is a new film festival I have recently discovered and recommend, called: Action on Film International Film Festival.

This year’s edition will bring nearly 400 low-budget films that promise to be for everyone’s liking, and will attract well-known actors who will be rewarded for their bodies of work, such as: Talia Shire (from the Godfather and Rocky) and Deborah Kara Unger (from White Noise and Silent Hill). I love independent films and going to see them in my city–thecrown city–and just hope that the festival is a big success in town, so that the city can attract and host more events like this promoting smaller niche films. I hope to catch a few worthwhile films at this year’s festival, as Movie Maker Magazine suggests: “It’s one of the top 25 film festivals worth the fees…”

“The AOF Fest is one of these most progressive film festivals on the scene today. With writers, producers, directors and filmmakers from all over the globe, we are truly an International affair. We have assisted a number of filmmakers in starting their careers; Stan Harrington, Mark Mahon, Justin Owensby, and many others. We have helped people sell their films and projects and helped others gain the recognition and representation they deserved.

Celebrities like Costas Mandylor, Michael Madsen, John Savage, Maria Conchita Alonso, George Takei, Bill Duke, John Saxon, Frances Bay, David Carradine, Steven Williams and many others have found a home at the AOF Festival. And now, people behind the scenes like super producer Karen Kramer, the people from SONY, The Will Rogers Foundation, Independent Distribution Companies, and Industry Insiders etc., now mix and mingle with our independent filmmakers and writers to guide them along the path to success in their careers.

With our move to the beautiful city of Pasadena in 2008, the AOF Festival proved itself to be one of the top events in the world with beautiful theaters, star studded Black Tie Dinner and Award Shows, Writer’s Award Events and hundreds of screenings of the most provocative films, videos, documentaries and works of the written word being showcased today.

The Action on Film Festival is dedicated to filmmakers and to film making. We have developed a program that supports artists and creators and allows them a voice via their work. We have showcased and will continue to showcase, talent, innovation, edge, new voices and YOU.

Action On Film is more than just a film festival, it is a community with members from all over the globe. We extend to you, the filmmaker the opportunity to show your work and to share your dreams with an audience that is ready to stand up and put their hands together, for you.

Join the Executive Producer of Criminal Minds Ed Bernero when he hosts a very special evening, SWAN, to benefit the Lung Cancer Foundation of America and to honor the work of Andy Swan. Click Here to Learn More“.